The star witness in the trial of a Turkish banker accused of laundering billions of dollars of Iranian oil money has begun describing how he worked with senior officials in both countries to set up a complex scheme to avoid US sanctions.
Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian gold trader, has already admitted his role in the conspiracy and appeared in court on Wednesday during the trial of Mehmet Hakan Atilla.
In all nine people have been charged in connection with the conspiracy, including a former Turkish economy minister, but only two are currently held in the US.
Wearing tan prison scrubs, Zarrab described how the sanctions plot was hatched. He said Iran was unable to use income from oil and gas sales because of US sanctions.
“They could not use the money for international payments,” he said.
He struck a deal with the Central Bank of Iran to provide financial services after meetings in 2010 and 2011.
But when he tried to open a bank account at Aktif Bank in Turkey he was told customers dealing with Iran needed “special permission”.
He said Egemen Bagis, Turkey's former minister of EU affairs, helped him open the account.
In court documents unsealed during the trial it emerged that Zarrab, a gold trader, last month pleaded guilty to all seven counts against him, including conspiracy to violate US sanctions against Iran.
However, the plea deal also revealed that he paid corrections officers in New York "to smuggle contraband, including cell phones and alcohol into the jail for him.
Security at Manhattan’s federal courthouse was tightened on Wednesday ahead of Zarrab’s expected appearance.
The trial has already made major headlines in Turkey, where it threatens to expose high-level corruption and raise fresh questions about whether the government is using fears of a coup to cover-up wrongdoing.
The country’s deputy prime minister recently said Zarrab, who is married to Turkish pop star Ebru Gundes, was being held “hostage” by the US to testify against the Turkish government.
Earlier this year, Zarrab hired former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani and a former US attorney-general Michael Mukasey in a futile attempt to find a diplomatic deal to secure his freedom.
Court documents detail how he met the then governor of the Bank of Iran and the then finance minister of the National Iranian Oil Company to discuss transferring gas proceeds to a Turkish bank. The conversation included talk of bribing a bank official.
Prosecutors have promised that their case will “pull back the curtain on a crime of truly global proportions”.
In his opening statement, David Denton claimed Atilla and Zarrab transferred billions of dollars of Iranian oil money out of Turkish banks by setting up fake deals for gold and food — both exempt from US sanctions. Zarrab set up the front companies while Atilla’s understanding of international banking and sanctions helped move the money around, he said.
Their scam was protected by officials who had been bribed, he said. When it was uncovered by Turkish police, the corrupt officials organised a purge, ensuring investigators were fired or sent to prison.
“While bribes got rid of the case, they could not get rid of the evidence," added Mr Denton.
However, Atilla’s lawyer, Victor Rocco, said Zarrab had cut a deal simply to protect his lavish lifestyle.
“Atilla is another one of Reza Zarrab's many victims, a hapless, helpless pawn,” Mr Rocco said. “This trial, I submit to you, is really the Reza Zarrab show.”
The allegations have sent shock waves through Turkey’s political world and its financial sector.
Senior officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have portrayed the case as another facet in last year's attempted coup and said the charges were fabricated, raising tensions between Washington and Ankara.
On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said Turkey will do whatever is necessary if its banking sector is affected by the case.
Speaking at a conference in Istanbul, Mr Simsek said Turkey's banking sector had a great capacity to deal with shocks.
Turkish prosecutors also issued warrants for the detention of 360 people in an operation targeting supporters of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen within the army, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Mr Gulen denies all allegations of involvement in inciting the coup attempt last year. More than 50,000 people have been detained and about 150,000 have been sacked or suspended from jobs in the public and private sectors.
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How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
More on animal trafficking
CHELSEA SQUAD
Arrizabalaga, Bettinelli, Rudiger, Christensen, Silva, Chalobah, Sarr, Azpilicueta, James, Kenedy, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech, Pulisic, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Werner, Havertz, Lukaku.
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Dirham Stretcher tips for having a baby in the UAE
Selma Abdelhamid, the group's moderator, offers her guide to guide the cost of having a young family:
• Buy second hand stuff
They grow so fast. Don't get a second hand car seat though, unless you 100 per cent know it's not expired and hasn't been in an accident.
• Get a health card and vaccinate your child for free at government health centres
Ms Ma says she discovered this after spending thousands on vaccinations at private clinics.
• Join mum and baby coffee mornings provided by clinics, babysitting companies or nurseries.
Before joining baby classes ask for a free trial session. This way you will know if it's for you or not. You'll be surprised how great some classes are and how bad others are.
• Once baby is ready for solids, cook at home
Take the food with you in reusable pouches or jars. You'll save a fortune and you'll know exactly what you're feeding your child.
